Yoga Journal's 10 Most Practiced Sequences of 2017

By Jessica Levine, Dec 20, 2017

We thought we needed yoga before, but this year made it nonnegotiable. Your clicks tell us you feel the same. They also say that along with the all of the hip-opening, sweat-stoking, detoxifying release, you want a practice that better equips you to take on everything the real world throws your way—ever faster and more furiously. The following collection speaks for itself: our 10 most popular practices of the year all in one place.

Hip openers are a perennial yoga favorite, and arm balances a close second. Combining the two is a powerful formula for rising above whatever is dragging you down. So it comes as no surprise that Vinnie Marino's stabilizing sequence, preparing the body to open up into Eka Pada Galavasana, was our most popular practice of the year.

The more divided we become, the more connection we crave. Perhaps that's why this powerful, prana-stirring sequence, drawing from ancient Taoist and Tantric energy practices as well as modern science, made 2017's top three.

This sequence's popularity is proof that the Handstand balance trend is still going strong. Try Senior Intermediate Iyengar teacher Carrie Owerko's creative approach to find the necessary core and leg stability you need to catch that air, even momentarily.

Despite all the exclusion and alienation in the U.S. this year, we're heartened to see that YJ readers are cultivating the opposite. This sequence opening the heart chakra to be more receptive and compassionate to all was one of our 10 most popular of the year.

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